Grand Princess

Overall Member Rating

10-day Grand Princess to Alaska from San Francisco

Sail Date:
July 2013
Destination:
Alaska
Embarkation:
San Francisco

The ships staff was very accommodating to any request. They made the cruise worthwhile..

The Grand Princess as a ship, however, is in much need of refurbishment. Duct tape and super glue just don't cut it for repairs while at sea...The poor ship is limping along until it gets it's much needed work in dry dock in a few months.

The first night began with leaks..lots and lots of condensation leaks, especially on the 8th floor (Emerald). One leak left a permanent puddle right next to my side of the queen size bed. Staff attempted to fix it three times to no avail. Pool towels over the puddles helped..By day 4 the leaks were raining (yes raining) from the ceiling down the hall of the 8th floor in about 4 spots.

All food in the International Caf and DaVinci dining room was excellent throughout the entire 10 days(missing the raspberry donuts...). The Piazza pizzeria on the 5th floor was outstanding, never a wait for a seat. All bar staff was extremely helpful and More
friendly. The baristas preparing endless amounts of specialty coffees were top notch. The Horizon Buffet was ho-hum as expected but the waiters and waitresses were terrific. We had DaVinci standing reservations at table 118 and ate in the dining room for 9 days it was celebratory how good the service and food were. Lucky for us we were invited to dinner at the Crown Grill. I had lamb chops that tasted like they fell from Heaven. Agnes from Poland was the consummate host and we felt very loved while there..Oh and the hamburgers prepared on deck 14 were really really good. Homemade buns makes them so very delicious..

All, though, was not great. The smell of cigarette smoke lingered all through the 8th floor,(how that is since it is very far from the casino and to decks that allow smoking) add that to damp musty moldy smell of the hallways and you get the end result... I caught a cold (allergy??) on day 8. Dear Husband thinks it had something to do with the permanent puddle next to my side of the bed. The toilets in our two state rooms did not work properly for a day or two and the only harm coming from that was the refusal of my 9-year old son to use the toilet because there wasn't any water in it...I don't blame him...

If the July 19-29th cruise were the last one for the Grand Princess before going into dry dock I would feel better about future cruises with Princess (Father-in-Law bought my son cruise futures so it is inevitable). Alas, the Grand Princess is heading to Hawaii(not sure when but it was the next trip planned) and all I can say is that I feel sorry for future passengers aboard this ship (prior to dry dock that is).

All port visits were great. Managed to see two shows on this cruise, the comedian and British Invasion, both were very good. Princess staff members Drake, Frenchie, and the British Chick were very very funny...(thinking of looking them up on Facebook...they probably have 8 million friends..)Failed miserably at origami (surprised??)

Overall the cruise itself was terrific. The ship? Not so terrific.. Less

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Cabin review: EE314

queen size bed was better after the mattress topper was put on it. Fridge was not quite cold enough. Lots of space in closet and cabinets. Electrical outlets on the desk in room E312 stopped working midway through our trip. Stateroom E314 was very creaky and noisy when the ship was in rough water. Leaving San Francisco it sounded like someone was rolling 100 pound bowling balls against the floor above our ceiling.